Core Strategy

Operating in established regional trade areas in metropolitan markets nationwide, we achieve these objectives through our core strategy:

Development of choice infill sites in proven trade areas, generally peripheral or adjacent to larger malls with desirable anchors, major discount merchants or big box retailers.

We Will Go Where The Deal takes us!

As an agile, entrepreneurial entity, Thomas English Retail Real Estate knows that individual tenant success in today’s highly competitive retail environment is dependent on quickly identifying and delivering the desired space. Through our market insights, ability to act quickly and strategic relationships with leading third-party managers, we are able to deliver these “best-in-class” results on projects valued from $2 million to $5 million. Our fast growing portfolio includes self-developed properties in our Midwest base and nationally.

Thomas English Retail Real Estate LLC is a real estate investment and development firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our business partners profit from our retail specialization and quick response, including a proven knack in sourcing off-market, “under the radar” sites.

With extensive prior experience in brokerage and property management, we firmly believe in the value of local expertise in operations. Our established alliances allow us to identify and assign the best leasing professional for any given location—on a competitive, project-by-project basis.

Since its founding, Thomas English Retail Real Estate, LLC has acquired, built or has in development over 60 properties comprising more than 1,000,000 square-feet, with an aggregate value in excess of $350 million. Our geographic footprint includes major metro markets nationwide; from Pittsburgh, PA to Spokane, WA and everywhere in between.

The Thomas English Retail Real Estate Development Strategy

We base our rapid growth on the following method of doing business:

Identifying sites. Our relationships with brokers and retailers allow us to target trade areas that are most in demand and then identify individual sites with the greatest retail potential. Often, these are sites that have not yet come to market or have been overlooked by the broader development community.

Speed of execution—decision-making and implementation. We can act quickly, without the restraints of a publicly traded REIT or large national developer. Examples include underwriting and making an offer on a center in less than 24 hours, closing and financing deals prior to lease-up, adapting lease language to national retailer requirements, or taking on sites with environmental, zoning or title issues. We place equal emphasis on speed in construction or remodeling—to get tenants into desired space as quickly as possible.

Outsourced leasing. As a rule, we find that the most highly skilled and motivated leasing professionals work independent of the development community. We choose to avail ourselves of some of the nation’s most powerful leasing professionals, including through many Chainlinks and CBRE offices, but always let market specifics and the best deal drive the transaction.

Lean, results-focused staff. Our size, flexibility and third-party relationships achieve superb execution with minimal overhead, which has resulted in a robust pipeline of new investments valued from $2 million to $5 million. Our development model allows us to do well with smaller projects that have target yields below what larger entities would consider, and also appeal to a strong variety of investor entities.